Azerbaijan leads in Judo World Ranking
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
Azerbaijani judoka Rustam Orujov (73 kg), who completed 2019 as the leader of the world ranking, continues his leadership in 2020, according to the International Judo Federation’s rating of 2020.
The rating is based on the results of Tel Aviv Grand Prix 2019, where a number of Azerbaijani athletes earned points as a result of the Olympic qualification.
Note that Orujov’s lead over second-run Soichi Hashimoto is 98 points. Hidayat Heydarov settled in the third place.
Despite the fact that many of the leading athletes of Azerbaijan did not perform in Israel, this fact did not prevent them from maintaining high positions in the classification.
In 90 kg weight category, Mammadali Mehdiyev is in the seventh place.
Elmar Gasimov (100 kg) takes the 15th line, while Zelym Kotsoiev ranks 17th.
In the competition between the heavyweights, the positions of Ushangi Kokauri (+100 kg) remained unchanged and he still ranks 15th. Nijat Shikhalizada is in the 21st position
Orkhan Safarov entered Top 30 thanks to his seventh place at Tel Aviv Grand Prix 2019.
In the women's standings, Iryna Kindzerska (+78 kg) retained the third place.
In the category of up to 57 kg, thanks to the seventh place of Alexandra-Larisa Florian in Israel, she was up on two places and became 49th.
In 48 kg weight category, Aisha Gurbanli and Leyla Aliyeva occupy 32nd and 33rd places, respectively.
Judo is one of the most developed sports in Azerbaijan, where the National Judo Federation was established in 1972. The Azerbaijani judo team is considered one of the best in the world.
The adult judo team of Azerbaijan made considerable progress in 2016. The team won 51 awards in competitions of various levels. The results showed that Azerbaijani judokas won 351 times out of 710 fights during the year.
The Azerbaijani judo fighter, silver medalist of Rio-2016 Summer Olympic Games, Rustam Orujov was named the best in Azerbaijan's male team. Moreover, he is the strongest in the world in his weight class of 73kg, as well as among all weight classes.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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